Ryan Wass' Story

Published September 19, 2014

I joined CrossFit Blue Ash in September 2013 and looking back now it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Before joining I was your typical gym goer who thought I knew everything. I had a friend who did crossfit and would try to talk me into doing it, but I was adamant I didn’t need it. Well after years of zero gains I needed something new so I decided to give it a try. I called up CrossFit Blue Ash and scheduled a trial. Well needless to say I went for my free session and was hooked; two weeks later I officially joined CFBA.

Crossfit has been a true eye opener for me since the day I first started. In the first week alone I saw where my weaknesses were, my biggest being my lack of mobility. For years I struggled with severe shoulder pain and all the doctors would do to help was give me cortisone shots. It was the coaches at CrossFit Blue Ash that noticed that my shoulders would rotate inwards from an over built chest. They helped me stretch them out and eventually my shoulders pulled back to a neutral position. Low and behold no more shoulder problems and with that all of my overhead lifts increased exponentially.

CrossFit Blue Ash has become my second family and everyone at the gym is there to cheer you on and push you beyond your limits to a place you never thought you would be. I remember my first muscle up. It was after the 7pm class and Blake was getting ready to lock up. He saw me trying them and walked over to help. He said he was not leaving until I got one. After many attempts and failures Blake jumped on the rings and showed me some progression techniques. A few more attempts, a few more failures and more frustration. Blake saw I was close and pulled out his phone to record me and said I was going to get it this time, next thing I knew I pulled it off and was beyond pumped. At that exact moment was when I decided to push myself harder to continue to hit new personal records for all my lifts. Not only did that moment push me harder as an athlete, but it made me want to help others achieve their goals.

CrossFit takes as much mental strength as it does physical strength; it brings out emotions that going to a normal gym will never bring out. It was back in February when I was judging a competition at our gym that I saw how great crossfit is and how great the crossfit community is. That day emotions were running high for all the teams and you could see the mental challenges the competitors had to endure, but one team stuck out more than the rest. It was not the team in the lead that everyone was cheering for, but rather the team in last. During the very last WOD after all teams were finished but one, you could see their struggle and feel their emotions but what happened next was truly inspiring. Everyone in the facility circled around this team as they struggled with every rep to finish, cheering them on until they finished and even after. On that day you saw what makes crossfit different from every other sport on this planet, the biggest cheers are for those that are in last and not in first. Seeing how the crossfit community stands together is what makes crossfit great.

CrossFit Blue Ash is an amazing place with amazing coaches that care for each and every one of their members and the members are second to none. Between the coaches and the members, if you need help there will always be someone there to help. There is no other place I would rather be than CROSSFIT BLUE ASH!!!

RYAN WASS

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